Trophy, Twelve, Talent
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and fifty-six: ABCs 20 Emma and the club are waiting on the announcement of the Sectionals winner.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh cycle. Now here's cycle 8!_

_Walking through a bookstore back in december, I saw the series of books by Sue Grafton that go "A is for...," "B is for...," etc, and I got the idea for this set. It will spread over the end of cycle 6, and carry through cycles 7 and 8, to be posted on alternating days. [And by the time we reach the end, Glee will be a week away!!] What I did is I found three words for each letter that would have some significance to Glee, and I built a plot around it. You with me? Okay, here we go..._  
_**20 of 26:** T is for..._

* * *

**"Trophy, Twelve, Talent"  
Emma & New Directions**

The decision was made. The winner had been chosen, and now all they could do was go backstage, with the other two clubs, and wait for the announcement. They travelled up the halls like a small pack, stuck together, with Emma up front.

"They're going to give it to one of them, aren't they?" Matt asked to the group in general.

"We don't know that," Emma answered simply, as they moved along.

"Why not? They'll get… sympathy," Quinn shrugged.

"Don't be silly, you guys were great," Emma nodded. "Why couldn't you win?"

"We're… the normal ones," Rachel shrugged.

"None of us are normal, and I'm including myself, look…" Emma stopped and turned to face the group, who stopped as they were. "You may not be juvie kids, you may be able to hear, but that doesn't make you any less of performers. You've worked so hard for this, don't tell me you don't think you deserve this as much as those other clubs." No one said a word… they just stared at her. "What?" she blinked.

"We're good," Finn nodded, looking to the others. "Let's go," he started moving along, and the others followed. Finn ended up walking by Emma's side. "He should be here for this," he spoke, knowing she'd know what he meant.

"Yes," she nodded, keeping on as straight a face as she could manage, without feeling the urge to start unloading all her present concerns on a sixteen-year-old who already had his share of revelations these days… more so than she already did.

"Not that it isn't great to have you here, Miss Pillsbury, you…"

"No, it's alright," she assured him. "I understand," she gave him a smile. "This has been fun," she nodded. "I mean except for the cheating, the scheming… the peeing…" she thought of Jacob. There was a bit of an awkward silence. "Once you get past all that, it's been really good," Emma eventually nodded.

"Sorry you had to move your wedding around for this," he nodded.

"No worries," she promised, once again opting for the short answer.

As they approached the backstage area, they came across the other two clubs. It wasn't so much animosity between the kids themselves. They were fairly certain they had no idea what they'd been made to be a part of on that day. In that moment, the thing on their mind would be the same thing that was on all their minds. Were they going to win? Lose? Had they done enough?

Looking at their directors though, it was a whole other matter. All those discomforts mentioned by Emma, it was because of them, and their choice to listen to Sue and cheat, which had caused them. Yes, one of them had tried – and failed – to come forward with the truth, but still there they were.

They had reached their stop. They could hear the emcee speaking through the microphone. It was never addressed who had first taken up someone else's hand, but one hand took another, which took another… soon they were all connected from somewhere within the pack. It was hard to find one breath among the lot of them.

The second runner up was announced… The deaf school's Glee Club moved toward the stage. They watched them go, looked to the Jane Adams girls, then to one another. They would either win, or come painfully close. Now they really couldn't breathe. They moved to the stage, so they would call the first runner up and the winner.

The trophies were right there, on the stage, and not one of them managed to look away from them, the big one in particular. It was as though everything had slowed down… the emcee was speaking oh so slowly, they could hardly take it.

Finally, they heard the words 'the first runner up is…' Twenty-six hands squeezed tighter. He just loved to milk the moment, didn't he? It wasn't so much a dramatic pause as a dramatic intermission. And when he would speak, the last thing they wanted to hear was their own school's name…

When they heard 'Jane Adams,' it took a moment for them to react. But then Brittany spoke, whispered.

"We won, right?" At once the breath refilled their lungs.

"We won…" Rachel nodded, smiling, just as the group exploded with joy, moving to take hold of their trophy.

Emma stood back, letting the twelve kids enjoy the moment amongst themselves, the moment they'd all worked together to accomplish. As much as she may have felt one of them on that day, this wasn't about her, it was about them, and the good man who'd stepped back so they could live it.

THE END


End file.
